By Attorney Edward Jesson
Most people in the construction industry are at least partially familiar with the Mechanic’s Lien statutes in North Carolina. For those that are not familiar with them, you can always get a refresher from our previous article, “Construction Liens 101”. While most people understand that a general contractor, or sub-contractor, or a sub sub-contractor (and so on) may generally be entitled to at least some sort of lien on property if they are not paid, most people are surprised to learn that contractors aren’t the only ones entitled to a lien. The applicable North Carolina statute states that: Any person who performs or furnishes labor or professional design or surveying services or furnishes material or furnishes rental equipment pursuant to a contract, either express or implied, with the owner or real property for the making of an improvement thereon shall, upon complying with the processions of this Article, have a right to file a claim of lien on real property . . . . As you can see, the definition of persons who can claim a mechanic’s lien is broad and is not just limited to those actually performing construction work. Those who provide materials (e.g. concrete suppliers, lumber suppliers) are entitled to mechanic’s liens if they do not receive payment. Likewise, those who provide rental equipment can file mechanic’s liens if they do not receive payment. This can be especially troubling for a general contractor, as often, the material suppliers and rental equipment businesses are several rungs down the contractual ladder from the general contractor or owner. Similarly, those who provide professional design or surveying services are entitled to a mechanic’s lien if they don’t receive payment. North Carolina law provides that design services encompasses both architects and engineers. Of course, not everyone involved in a construction project is entitled to a direct lien on the real property: only those who have a contract with the owner of the real property are entitled to a direct lien (subject to limited exceptions). Those further down the contractual chain are generally only going to be entitled to a subrogated lien (again, subject to certain exceptions). It is incredibly important when involved in any construction project, whether you’re on the owner’s side or the construction/design side, to make sure that everyone down the chain is getting paid for the work that they are performing. Even if a supplier of a sub-sub-contractor doesn’t get paid, that can cause costly legal issues should they seek to file a lien at a later date. The attorneys at Jesson & Rains can assist if liens are filed and protect against liens being filed in the first place. Please give us a call if you need assistance!
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Asset Protection in North Carolina - What can you do to protect your assets from your creditors?8/13/2020 By Attorney Kelly Jesson Creditors come in all shapes and sizes: ex-spouses, bankruptcy, personal and business debts, and claims involving real estate or professional malpractice. People in high risk professions or who deal with circumstances that are prone to litigation sometimes want to take steps to protect assets. However, this must be done before a dispute arises, because moving assets around afterwards can sometimes be deemed a fraudulent conveyance and voided by a court.
Unfortunately, there is no “magic wand,” and protecting assets oftentimes involves investing your earnings into protected accounts, such as life insurance and retirement. An individual’s retirement account is exempted from their own creditors (but not from a beneficiary’s creditors once the assets are inherited, which will be discussed in the next blog dealing with asset protection in estate planning). The cash value of a life insurance policy is also protected from the insured’s creditors, but again, not from a beneficiary’s creditors once the assets are inherited. Additionally, the state of North Carolina exempts certain amounts of property from creditors:
One of the most important things you can do is title property as “tenants by entireties” (TBE). If a husband and wife purchase property together, by default, it is owned as TBE and is therefore protected from the creditors of just one of them, meaning a lien will not attach. However, if a creditor gets a judgment in both spouses’ names, a lien can attach. Also, if the spouses divorce or one passes away, a lien can attach if the remaining owner is the debtor. Another alternative or high-risk professionals is to have the low-risk spouse own the majority of assets because they will not be responsible for debts unless joint. Another really important step is for self-employed people to form businesses and formalize businesses to protect assets. If you follow business formalities, business creditors cannot reach your personal assets for business debts. If you own investment properties, you are running a business. In fact, the definition of “operating a business” is pretty loose, and oftentimes people will move high-value assets over to LLCs for asset protection purposes. Again, you must follow business formalities (set up a tax identification number, maintain a separate bank account, have an operating agreement). If you own a business but you have personal creditors, those cannot reach assets titled in the name of your business. They are limited to collecting only the distributions you receive from the business, which you control as the business owner. Distributions do not include your pay made through payroll, which is another reason to run your business like a business. Finally, we’re often called by people to set up trusts to avoid creditors. General living trusts or revocable trusts are not protected from creditors of the grantor (the person who sets it up), although the funds could be protected from beneficiaries’ creditors after the grantor dies (the subject of our next blog). North Carolina residents have a few not-so-great options: First, they can set up an irrevocable trust for the benefit of others. For example, if you are married, you can create an irrevocable trust that benefits your spouse for his or her lifetime. Presumably, your spouse will take care of you while you’re married, so you will indirectly have access to the money you put into the irrevocable trust, although on paper it will no longer belong to you, so your creditors cannot reach it. This obviously has risks, but it is an option. Another option is an asset protection trust. In an asset protection trust, the trustee has discretion to distribute money to the grantor as well as other beneficiaries. These trusts are not valid in North Carolina, although they are available in seventeen other states and other countries. However, North Carolina residents can pick the situs (jurisdiction) of their trust and where the trustee is located, meaning, for example, that you can state that Georgia law applies to your trust even though you live in North Carolina. However, lawmakers in North Carolina have questioned whether this practice is valid for asset protection trusts, and, therefore, there are some risks involved. Of course, transferring funds to another country is always risky. If you are interested in implementing any of the above ideas in order to protect your assets, please give the attorneys at Jesson & Rains a call! By Attorney Edward A. Jesson
The North Carolina Constitution, and North Carolina statutes, give contractors the right to file mechanic’s liens if they are owed money for completing “improvements” on real property. Improvements are defined in a statute, but generally speaking, anyone who performs work on real property, be it renovations, grading, architectural work, or otherwise, can file a mechanic’s lien in North Carolina. The purpose of filing a mechanic’s lien is to have the debt owed to the contractor paid by the responsible party (often, the owner of the real property). A contractor has 120 days from the “date of last furnishing” to file the lien. The “date of last furnishing” is simply the last date that the contractor (or architect, etc.) performed work on the real property. It is best to be conservative with this date as courts have ruled in the past that punch list items performed after the date of last furnishing do not push that date out further. The mechanic’s lien has to be filed with the clerk of court in the county where the real property is located and formally served (like a lawsuit) on the property owner and any other contractors that may be affected by the lien. It is important that the lien be properly drafted when it is filed—if there is a mistake and the 120-day deadline passes, you cannot simply amend a lien. Instead, the lien must be released and a new lien filed in its place. The contractor then has 180 days (again, from the date of last furnishing) to “enforce” the lien. To enforce a lien, you file a lawsuit and ask the court declare that your lien is valid and confirm the debt amount. Oftentimes, a lien enforcement lawsuit will also include other claims, such as a claim for breach of contract. If the contractor is successful, he/she can then request that the court order what is essentially a foreclosure sale on the property to satisfy the debt. If there are other liens attached to the property, like a mortgage, the contractor will have to get in line. The existence of other liens is something to take into account when evaluating the benefits of moving forwards with a lien enforcement action. In reality, most lien situations are resolved prior to a foreclosure sale, because (1) property owners don’t want their property sold and (2) attorney’s fees may be awarded in the lien enforcement lawsuit. North Carolina’s mechanic’s lien statute contains an attorney’s fee provision that awards attorney’s fees to the prevailing party. That is very rarely the case in the United States (normally, parties are responsible for their respective fees, regardless of whether they win or lose), so it can be a powerful negotiating tool. If a contractor loses, they may have to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees, which can often total more than the debt owed itself, so it is important to seek the advice of a construction lawyer when evaluating whether you should file a mechanic’s lien. There are many other factors to consider when getting ready to file a lien, and there are other types of liens that can be filed by subcontractors and others involved in the construction process. Should you have an issue with collecting money from a client or have had a lien filed against your property, please give us a call to help with your issue. By Attorney Edward Jesson
In 2012, North Carolina’s mechanic’s lien statutes were overhauled. One of the biggest changes was the requirement for a lien agent to be appointed on certain jobs. We still frequently receive questions about lien agent requirements and what the consequences of a contractor’s failure to file a “Notice to Lien Agent” actually are. Lien agents are only required on projects involving improvements to real property valued at over $30,000.00, except that a lien agent does not have to be designated for projects where improvements are being done to an existing single-family residential building, occupied by the owner, even if those improvements are valued over $30,000.00. That exception also applies if the contract is for the construction of accessory buildings where “the use of which is incidental to that residence.” Generally speaking, the appointment of lien agents is more prevalent in commercial construction projects but it is also sometimes necessary to designate a lien agent for residential projects. While designating a lien agent is generally the owner’s responsibility, there is a limited ability for “custom contractors” (as defined by the statute) to designate the lien agent on residential new construction projects as, presumably, custom contractors should be more familiar with these laws than the average home owner. In order to fully protect its rights as a contractor to pursue a claim of lien on real property, a contractor must file a Notice to Lien Agent within 15 days after it first “furnishes labor or materials to the project.” While failing to file a notice to lien agent within 15 days is not necessarily fatal to any future lien claims, it may limit the contractor’s lien rights should it be necessary to file a lien at a later date. If a contractor fails to file a notice to lien agent and, prior to filing the notice or to filing a claim of lien on real property, the property is sold or otherwise encumbered, the contractor seeking to enforce its lien rights at a later date may have issues doing so. On the other hand, if a contractor fails to file a notice to lien agent and it then becomes necessary to file a lien, the contractor will likely be able to do so if the property has not been sold or otherwise encumbered. It is important to note that the lien agent does not take place of the owner or upper tier contractor for purposes of service. Any claims of lien on real property or claims of lien on funds should be filed (where necessary) and served on the owner and any necessary contractors and/or suppliers. It is best practice, in projects where lien agents are appointed, to file the notice of lien agent as soon as possible—even prior to beginning work. There is a portal to provide Notices to Lien Agents on LiensNC.com, but if you have any further questions, the attorneys at Jesson & Rains would be happy to help. |
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